You’ve hit a bump in the sports betting road. You’re on a losing streak, and you don’t know why. What should you do? It’s something every sports bettor should do whenever they put money on a game. Whether you’re on a winning, losing or breakeven streak, you simply want to practice the same drill.
That’s right—keep your process of betting, evaluating your results and sports handicapping consistent, making adjustments within the process to improve your handicapping technique. You’re asking—do I do that even when I’m on a losing streak? The short answer is “yes.” What you’ll want to do is make internal adjustments to your handciapping and wagering process.
The way to stay on top of your sports betting and to get out of any quandary that involves a losing streak a bit sooner than you normally might is to analyze the outcome of each and every one of your bets. If you’re not already doing this, then you’re missing a major component of handicapping and sports betting.
Whether you win, lose or earn a push, you need to look at the outcome and ask yourself—if this game were played again would the point spread have been the same? How can you determine this? Here’s a basic way to determine if you’ve made a good bet and simply lost or made a bad bet and gave your cash away.
Let’s say the New York Giants had a spread of -7.5 against the Washington Redskins and you bet on the Football Giants. Unfortunately, they lost. Ask yourself, if these two teams played each other again next week what would the point spread be? If it would have favored New York by seven or more points, then chances are you made the right bet and simply lost to some uncontrollable factors. But if the spread would have made the Giants less of a favorite or an underdog, then you need to reevaluate your handicapping methods.
The thing to remember is that every league, including the NFL, is in a state of flux. Teams change, players get injured and old, trades happen and coaches come up with new schemes that can change the outcome of a game. Thus, the sports bettor must constantly monitor these changes and determine how they may affect their betting.
A few years back, the NFL saw a lot of movement amongst quarterbacks and there were many new faces on the field calling signals. Teams that had faltered in the past were winning and other teams that had done well before were struggling. Entire divisions seemed to be uprooted. A few of the rookie QBs outperformed all expectations and some veteran’s struggled. This resulted in a lot of surprise endings and a lot of bettors needing to adjust how they looked the the spreads.
A team that was dominant last season may be in decline this or a club that has seen an influx of new players during the off-season may have found the right mix. New coaches, new staffs and new owners can and will mix things up. As the season goes on, you’ll see teams have to deal with injuries, trades and fluke outcomes.
Even adjusting your sports picks for a warm weather team going to a cold environment, an indoor club having to perform outdoors and a passing team needing to find its running game are all important. The successful professional handicapper is always readjusting their analysis and trying to figure out the new power rankings of each team.
This process of handicapping sports is about small details, current stats and up-to-date information. To do things the right way, you must not only be assessing the game and each team but your own efforts. In order to succeed, the sports bettor must have an accurate picture of their process and the choices that are borne from that process.
Anything less will leave the bettor weakened and unable to make a sound choice. This is about commitment to being the finest and most accomplished professional that you can be. Thus, every time you go to put down a bet, you should be sure that it’s the best wager that you can make. There’s no sure thing in sports betting but as a handicapper you want to be as sure as you can possibly be.
Take some time to understand your process, rating its efficiency and correctness, and make any adjustments you may need to make. Remember that this is not about proving yourself right. It is about understanding what you are doing right and things upon which you may improve. It is about long-term success.
The other thing is you should do this all the time. Whether you’re on a winning, losing or breakeven streak, the way to cut your losses as a sports bettor is through constant reevaluation of what you are doing. You always want to be looking to improve your ability to make picks, which will eventually increase your profits. And remember that profits is what sports betting is all about for all handicappers.
